Consumer expenditures on pork have grown 15.7 percent since 2009 in the United States, including a 7.6 percent jump just last year, the National Pork Board reported last week.

"Overall, there was less pork to sell (in 2014) due to the impact of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, so growth in the second half of the year came largely from higher pork prices," said Dale Norton, a Bronson, Michigan, pig farmer and president of the National Pork Board. "Despite record...